Tuesday's Notes

RS Gathering ~ Tuesday, September 09, 2008

“Anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life.” Flannery O’Connor

Free Write 10 mins word prompt: “peanuts”

Life = Story. When we write, we reveal parts of our story; the messiness and the beauty. We each have a life, so we each have a story. Give voice to your story…a bunch of stuff comes out through the writing process. We can discover so much about who we are if we are really real in our writing. Meaning, don’t write from your mind (what you think others will want to read.) Write what lingers in your soul. In other words, write your heart out.
It’s a journey with an unknown destination…

Write 20 mins a birthday memory

My story: I didn’t grow up in a Christian house, but when I write the historic scenes of my story, I can see where God was with me. Albeit, not in everything right away, but His beauty will be revealed in His time and as I grow to see Him clearer. I invite Jesus to sit with me amidst my messy segments of my story. We sit there together as I pick through all the broken pieces, examining each item closely and sometimes I get cut by a shard and a past wound is opened up again. It hurts. It’s when I can feel it deeply that I can surrender it over to Him and He gladly places it in His hand. The mess is still there, but it has less gravity. Over time, through continued surrender, I can begin to see more than just the mess; I begin to see the beauty of Jesus amidst the mess. I must write through the mess in order to be on the other side of it.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ~William Wordsworth

Write 10 mins a response to the above quote.

I usually have a tendency to write when I’m struggling, when life is messy and confusing. Writing about difficult memories is ouchie, but I feel a sense of God’s peace with me NOW as I write about what happened THEN.

Write 20 mins Why do you write?

Enjoy developing and practicing your writing voice.
Grace & peace, deAnn